Adjustable head rest



1959 J. S. PETERSEN ET AL 2,869,622

'ADJUSTABLE HEAD REST Filed Dec. 23, 1957 INVENTORS.

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Unite tatesatent O ADJUSTABLE HEAD REST John S. Petersen and Ray H.Blocker, Kenosha, Wis., assignors to Simmons Company, a corporation ofDelaware Original application April 15, 1955, Serial No. 501,664.Divided and this application December 23, 1957, Serial No. 704,548

1 Claim. (Cl. 155-177) This invention relates to adjustable head restsfor reclining chairs and is a division of application Serial No.501,664, filed April 15, 1955.

It is the object of the invention to provide a head rest for recliningchairs or the like which can be adjusted manually to support the head ofthe occupant in an elevated position while the occupant reclines in thechair, as is desirable, for example, while reading in the reclinedposition, but Which can be readily returned by the occupant to itsnormal position without requirng the occupant to move from his recliningposition.

Other objects will become apparent asthe invention is explained withreference to the following drawings which illustrate a preferredembodiment:

Figure 1 is a sectional view of the head rest showing its normalposition in full lines and its extreme elevated or forward position inbroken lines; and

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 but showing the head restadjusted to a. sustained, elevated position.

The novel head rest of the invention comprises a structural framework towhich suitable upholstery is applied in accordance with design andfunctional requirements. It consists essentially of two parts, a woodensupporting frame 92 and a movable front panel 94 hinged at its loweredge to the supporting frame 92, and bearing the upholstery padding forsupporting the occupants head. The supporting frame 92 includes upperand lower cross members 96 and 98 and suitable connecting members 102which also provide partial support for a novel ratchet mechanism 104 foradjusting the two parts of the head rest relative to one another.

As shown in the drawings, the head rest is mounted atop the back rest 30of a reclining chair for movement of the entire head rest away-from thetop of the back rest as an extension thereof. The movable mounting ofthe head rest on the back rest, the mechanical linkage which producesthe described movement, and the thrust rod 110 which transmits themovement of the linkage to the head rest through the back of the chair,are all fully described in the parent application Serial No. 501,664,and form no part of the subject matter claimed herein.

The forward selectively adjustable part of the head rest comprisesessentially the panel 94, which is co-extensive with the head rest frame92 and pivoted to the latter by means of a pair of hinges 124 at thebottom edges of the two members. The movable panel 94 forms the base forupholstery, the outline of which is indicated by broken lines in thedrawings. A helical spring 126, connected between a screw eye 128secured to the lower cross member 98 of the head rest frame, and to anangle bracket 130 secured to the head rest panel 94, normally maintainsthe two parts of the head rest together, as indicated by the full lineportion of Figure 1.

The forward, pillow portion of the head rest may be elevated from ormoved forwardly from its supporting frame 92 against the action of thespring 126 and maintained at one of two elevated positions by means of aratchet member 132 which is pivoted to an angle bracket 134 secured,along with the spring bracket 130, to the movable panel 94 of the headrest.

The ratchet member 132 is in the form of a closed loop which encompassesa pin 136 secured to a metal plate 138 fixed to the central member 102of the head rest frame 92. On its upper inside edge, the ratchet memberis provided with two pin-engaging shoulders 140 for sustaining theswingable front part of the head rest at either of the two elevatedpositions. More remotely from the ratchet pivot, the inside,pin-engaging surface of the ratchet member is disposed at an obtuseangle to the line of the pin-engaging shoulders 140 so that, as thefront or pillow portion of the head rest is drawn farther forwardly thanthe full-line, sustained position of Figure 2, the ratchet member iscammed upwardly about its pivot to the broken line position of Figure 1.In the latter position, as will be apparent from the drawing, thepin-engaging shoulders 140 are disposed well above the pin 136. Thespring 126 is preferably very strong in relation to the weight of theratchet member and in relation to the mass or inertia of the pillowportion of the head rest, so that When the head rest is abruptlyreleased from its forwardmost position, it will return under force ofthe spring 126 to'the full line position of Fig. l without intermediatereengagement of the shoulders with the pin 136.

To assure the return of the parts to the closed position shown in fulllines in Fig. 1 without re-engagement of the ratchet shoulders with thepin, the ratchet member is preferably proportioned to make the best useof its inertia. Referring particularly to the broken line posi tion ofFig. 1, it will be seen that the bulk of the mass of the ratchet member,which may be stamped or cut from plate stock, is disposed above a lineextending between the pivot of the ratchet and the abutment pin 136.More importantly, its center of gravity is disposed in that positionabove a tangent to the arcuate path of its pivot at the pivot, thistangent being taken to be the line of action of the force exerted uponthe ratchet member by the panel 94 when the latter is abruptly releasedand allowed to recede under full force of the spring 126. Thus the forceexerted on the ratchet member by the moving panel 94 produces a momentopposed to that caused by gravity, and enhances the effectiveness of thespring 126 which would otherwise depend solely upon producing a rearwardacceleration sufficient to move the ratchet shoulders rearwardly out ofthe range of the pin136 before the acceleration due to gravity causedtheir re-engagement.

The abrupt return of the forward, pillow portion of the head rest hasthe further advantage of neutralizing the effect of friction at theratchet pivot, inasmuch as the momentum accumulated by the ratchet onthe return movement of the head rest under the action of the spring 126forcibly returns it to the full line position of Fig. 1 as the panel 94contacts the support frame 92. The shock of the return of the panel 94against the frame 92 is cushioned in part by the entrapment of airWithin the frame 92, which is covered on its rear side with upholsterymaterial, as will be understood.

The foregoing arrangement for extending the head rest automatically asan incident to the reclining of the back of the chair assures the properplacement of cushion support for the head of the occupant, and theprovision for uninterrupted return of the movable pillow portion of thehead rest to its normal closed position permits its independentadjustment by the chair occupant without direct manipulation of theratchet mechanism and without requiring movement of the occupant out ofthe reclining position.

The features of the invention believed to be new and patentable are setforth in the appended claim,

We claim:

A head rest for the back of a reclining chair or the like comprising apillow part pivoted at its lower end to a support secured to the chairback, a spring connected between the pillow part and said support fornormally maintaining said pillow part in an extreme rearward positiononsaid support, a pin on said support and a ratchet pivoted to saidpillow part and having shoulders engageable by gravity with said pin formaintaining said pillow part at various positions forwardly of saidextreme rearward position against the force of said spring, means onsaid ratchet for preventing disengagement thereof from said pin and forlimiting forward movement of said pillow part against said spring to anextreme forward position beyond the forwardmostsustained position de- 15termined by said shoulders, the force of said spring and thedistribution of mass of said ratchet member relative to the line ofaction of the force exerted thereon by the pillow part being such thatwhen said pillow part is abruptly released from said extreme forwardposition, the spring returns it to said extreme rearward positionwithout re-engagement of said shoulders and pin.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS335,815 Hogan Feb. 9, 1886 2,781,082 Decker Feb. '12, 1957 2,804,127Whittingham Aug. 27, 1957

